Trends, Predictors and Outcomes of Ischemic Stroke Among Patients Hospitalized with Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy.

OBJECTIVES: This study assessed the temporal trends in the incidence of ischemic stroke among patients hospitalized with takotsubo cardiomyopathy (TCM) stratified by the subtypes of ischemic stroke (cardioembolic versus thrombotic). Predictors of each stroke subtype, the association with atrial fibrillation (AF), the occurrence of ventricular fibrillation/ventricular tachycardia (VF/VT), cardiogenic shock (CS), in-hospital mortality, length of stay (LOS), and total healthcare cost were also assessed. BACKGROUND: Ischemic stroke in TCM is thought to be primarily cardioembolic from left ventricular mural thromboembolism. Limited data are available on the incidence of thrombotic ischemic stroke in TCM. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We identified 27,970 patients hospitalized with the primary diagnosis of TCM from the 2008 to 2017 National Inpatient Sample, of which 751 (3%) developed ischemic stroke. Of those with ischemic stroke, 571 (76%) had thrombotic stroke while 180 (24%) had cardioembolic stroke. Cochrane armitage test was used to assess the incidence of thrombotic and cardioembolic strokes and multivariate regression was used to identify risk factors associated with each stroke subtype. We compared the incidence of AF, VF/VT, CS, LOS, in-hospital mortality and total cost between hospitalized patients with TCM alone to those with cardioembolic and thrombotic strokes. RESULTS: From 2008 - 2017, the incidence of thrombotic stroke (4.7%-9.5% (p< 0.0001) increased while it was unchanged for cardioembolic stroke (0.5%-0.7% P=0.5). In the multivariate regression, peripheral artery disease, prior history of stroke, and hyperlipidemia were significantly associated with thrombotic stroke, while CS, AF, and Asian race (compared to White race) were associated with cardioembolic stroke. Both cardioembolic and thrombotic strokes were associated with higher odds of IHM, AF, CS, longer LOS and increased cost. Trends in in-hospital mortality and the utilization of thrombolysis, cerebral angiography, and mechanical thrombectomy among patients with TCM and ischemic stroke were unchanged from 2008 to 2017. CONCLUSION: Among patients with TCM and ischemic stroke, thrombotic stroke was more common compared to cardioembolic stroke. Ischemic stroke was associated with poorer outcomes, including higher in-hospital mortality and increased healthcare resource utilization in TCM.

A Case of Severe Aplastic Anemia in a 35-Year-Old Male With a Good Response to Immunosuppressive Therapy.

Aplastic anemia (AA) is a severe but rare hematologic condition associated with hematopoietic failure leading to decreased or total absent hematopoietic precursor cells in the bone marrow. AA presents at any age with equal distribution among gender and race. There are three known mechanisms of AA: direct injuries, immune-mediated disease, and bone marrow failure. The most common etiology of AA is considered to be idiopathic. Patients usually present with non-specific findings, such as easy fatigability, dyspnea on exertion, pallor, and mucosal bleeding. The primary treatment of AA is to remove the offending agent. In patients in whom the reversible cause was not found, patient management depends on age, disease severity, and donor availability. Here, we present a case of a 35-year-old male who presented to the emergency room with profuse bleeding after a deep dental cleaning. He was found to have pancytopenia on his laboratory panel and had an excellent response to immunosuppressive therapy.

Aspergillosis: An Unwanted Tenant of Lung Cavity in an Immunocompromised Host.

Immunocompromised status predisposes an individual to infection from bacteria, fungi, and viruses that are otherwise uncommon. The presence of carcinoma and the use of chemotherapy weakens one's immune system and leads to opportunistic infections of many kinds. Aspergilloma is a fungal ball that grows inside a primary cavitary lesion within the pulmonary parenchyma. Generally, immunocompromised individuals have severe and invasive infections from Aspergillus. Here, we present a case report of a female with breast carcinoma undergoing chemotherapy who previously had a lung abscess with Klebsiella. During her subsequent presentation, she was detected to have aspergilloma along with multi-drug-resistant organisms in the lung abscess along with metastasis of breast carcinoma and lung squamous cell carcinoma encapsulating the fungal ball.

Epidemiology of dengue in SAARC territory: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Dengue is one of the common arboviral infections and is a public health problem in South East Asia. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to evaluate the prevalence and distribution of dengue in SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) countries. METHODS: The PubMed, PubMed Central, Embase and Scopus databases were searched for relevant studies. Statistical analysis on data extracted from the selected studied was conducted using the Comprehensive Meta-Analysis Software (CMA) version 3 software package. Proportions were used to estimate the outcome with a 95% confidence interval (CI). RESULTS: Across all studies, among cases of suspected dengue, 30.7% were confirmed dengue cases (proportion: 0.307, 95% CI: 0.277-0.339). The seroprevalence of dengue immunoglobulin (Ig)G, IgM or both (IgM and IgG) antibodies and dengue NS1 antigen was 34.6, 34.2, 29.0 and 24.1%, respectively. Among the different strains of dengue, dengue virus (DENV) strains DENV-1, DENV-2, DENV-3 and DENV-4 accounted for 21.8, 41.2, 14.7 and 6.3% of cases, respectively. The prevalence of dengue fever, dengue hemorrhagic fever and dengue shock syndrome was 80.5, 18.2 and 1.5%, respectively. Fever was a commonly reported symptom, and thrombocytopenia was present in 44.7% of cases. Mortality was reported in 1.9% of dengue cases. CONCLUSIONS: Dengue is a common health problem in South East Asia with high seroprevalence. DENV-2 was found to be the most common strain causing infection, and most dengue cases were dengue fever. In addition, thrombocytopenia was reported in almost half of the dengue cases.

Rupture of Both Left-Sided Valves Following Endocarditis Causing One Trouble After Another: A Case Report.

Despite the advances in managing left-sided infective endocarditis, complications are still not uncommon. Both aortic and mitral insufficiency can occur from infective endocarditis. In addition, valvular insufficiency due to rupture of valves presents acutely with cardiac decompensation and requires early surgical intervention. Here, we report a case of a 38-year-old intravenous drug user male with Group A Streptococcus-associated left-sided native valve infective endocarditis who presented with acute heart failure three months after his treatment of infective endocarditis. Infective endocarditis complications can lead to severe valve damage, causing acute heart failure, and may require immediate surgical intervention.

Trends, Associations, and Impact of Atrial Fibrillation in Patients With Light-chain Cardiac Amyloidosis.

BACKGROUND: In this study, we investigated the temporal trends in the prevalence and prognostic implication of atrial fibrillation (AF) in patient with light-chain cardiac amyloidosis (AL-CA). METHODS: We identified 3030 patients with AL-CA from the 2015 to 2017 National Inpatient Sample, of which 1577 (52%) had AF. We used trend analysis to assess the temporal trends in the prevalence of AF by subtype from 2015 to 2017. We compared inhospital mortality, acute on chronic heart failure, stroke, length of stay (LOS), and total cost in patients with to those without AF, stratified by subtype of AF. RESULTS: The prevalence of AF among patients with AL-CA was unchanged from 2015 to 2017 (50%-53%; adjusted odds ratio, 1.1 [0.9-1.5]; P = 0.3). The trend was unchanged in the stratified analysis by subtype of AF. Patients with AF were older and had more comorbidities. After propensity matching, acute on chronic heart failure was significantly higher in patients with AL-CA and AF, compared with those with AL-CA alone (55.6% vs. 48.3%; P < 0.0001). There was no difference in inhospital mortality (7.5% vs. 7.5%; P = 0.9), stroke (2.0% vs. 2.5%; P = 0.5), median LOS (5 [3-9] vs. 5 [3-8]; P = 0.3), and median total hospital cost $42,469 ([$21,309-$92,855] vs. $44,008 [$22,889-$94,200]; P = 0.6). In the stratified analysis, acute on chronic heart failure remained significant higher in patients with paroxysmal and nonparoxysmal AF, while LOS became significantly longer in patients with paroxysmal AF. CONCLUSIONS: Among patients with AL-CA, AF is associated with a higher risk of acute on chronic heart failure.